Study finds that adults catch flu around once every 5 years

Researchers have found that adults get flu about once every 5 years, despite many people feeling like they have the illness more regularly than this.   

The study, published in the journal, PLoS Biology, was carried out by scientists from the UK, US and China and involved 151 people in China between the ages of 7 and 8.

Blood samples were taken from each participant and tested for immune cells known as antibodies, which would show whether and how often they had been infected with flu viruses.

The researchers found that, on average, children caught flu every other year, while adults were infected with a flu virus every 5 years.

The scientists state that when people feel like they have the flu more regularly than this it is often due to other flu-like infections.

The researchers will now follow this study up with a similar study of people in the UK.

Read the original news story. 

Read the journal article.